The Night of Meaning
by Adnacia
Summary: A meeting at a bar leads to a drunken mistake. But does it turn out to be as big of a mistake as they think? They then have to go on a mission. Will they make it? Fluff, then a moment of seriousness, before more fluff! Lighthearted Genma/Ino


A/N: Hello, one and all! Welcome to a fic that starts off cracktastic, or something like that, and goes to just random fluff. Okay, not really random, but fluff nonetheless! A few disclaimers- I do not own Naruto. I do not write Naruto. If I did, things would be going different in the manga. And f.y.i.- there are NO manga spoilers so you are safe. I do, however, own some Naruto posters. I do not own the lyrics to "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane. I do not own the band either. (Somebody to Love is what Ino is singing at the beginning.) I would like to dedicate this story to ABBA, Nightwish, the Mamma Mia! soundtrack, Ray Stevens (The Streak), Ronnie Milsap, and Robert Earl Keen (Merry Christmas From the Family). That is what I listened to as I wrote this long ass fic (14,737 words without this long ass author's note). I tried to catch any changes in the spelling of names that I might have made. Also, the use of honorifics varies. Sometimes they're used, sometimes not. It just depended on the mood I was in and if I felt like they should be used. I think I might have gotten one or two wrong but oh well. The majority of them are right. And sorry if the characters seem a little ooc. I tried to keep them as in character as possible, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded. And now, for the moment you have been waiting for- the actual story.

* * *

"Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love?" Ino Yamanaka was singing at the top of her lungs. She was at the bar nearest Hokage Tower and had been for quite a while. She had become quite tipsy and was now attempting karaoke without the help of a karaoke machine.

Her singing was being met with laughter and glares alike. Ino was not the best singer in the world and many of the ninja did not want to hear her singing. Though, things were about to get worse, or better, depending on how one looks at things. She was soon joined by Genma Shiranui who decided that the song needed a dance.

"Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love." The duet would have continued if it wasn't for Hyota, the bartender, coming over to them.

"I'm sorry, Shiranui-san, Yamanaka-san, but I'm going to have to ask you to either quit singing or leave." Hyota told them.

Ino huffed and said, "Damn. Well, give me another drink!"

Genma sat down beside her and ordered another for him. "How are you Ino?"

"Not so good, Genma." Ino said sorrowfully as she shook her head.

"Anything I can help you with?" Genma asked suggestively.

Ino giggled. "No. It's just I want to get married and have lots of babies."

Genma stared open mouthed at Ino, the infamous playgirl. "You want to do that? Sounds like a responsible adult."

Ino sighed. "I know. That is one issue. The other is that no one wants to marry me." With that, she picked up her glass and downed her drink.

"Sorry can't help you there." Genma said as he drank his drank.

As the night wore on, they started to drink heavily. Ino was being teased by Genma about wanting to be a responsible adult. Ino was half-heartedly hitting Genma in the arm whenever he made a comment. Finally, it was time for the bar to close. As Hyota ushered them out, they kept falling over each other in their drunken state.

"Hey, Ino." Genma slurred. "How about we get married?"

Ino blinked at him owlishly. "Huh?"

"You said you wanted to be a responsible adult. Let's both be responsible adults! Plus we can have lots and lots of sex!" Genma said the last part a bit loudly.

Ino thought for a minute before flashing him a huge smile. "Okay! But who can marry us?"

Genma said, "There is a priest who lives near here."

So Ino let Genma lead her to where the poor, unsuspecting priest lived. Genma banged loudly on the door and yelled for the man to come to the door as Ino tried to hush him even though she was being just as loud. The door opened and the priest was met by the sight of two drunken ninja who could barely stand. "We want to get married." Genma announced as Ino nodded in agreement.

"This is not the best time to do this. Do you have a marriage license?" The priest asked.

"Damn it!" Genma shouted.

"Fuck." Ino muttered.

The priest just stared in amazement.

"You don't happen to keep any marriage licenses on you?" Genma asked.

The priest started to shake his head no when Ino yanked on Genma's sleeve. "There's Kotetsu. I bet he can get us one!" Ino said cheerfully.

She stumbled over to where Kotetsu Hagane was trying to purchase some love for the night. "Kotetsu! Love! We need a favor."

"Uh, Ino, I'm kind of busy." He said as the hooker looked at Ino like she was a bug who needed to be crushed.

"But this will only take up an itsy, bitsy bit of your time."

Kotetsu gave a sigh. He knew the blonde would not give up until she had her way. "What do you need me to do?"

"Break into the Hokage's office and steal a marriage license and forge Lady Tsunade's signature." Ino said matter-of-factly.

Kotetsu stared at her in shock. "What the hell?" was the only thing he could think of to say.

"Come on, Kotetsu. I know you can do it! And you can use him to help!" Ino said pointing at the person who Kotetsu had been making a transaction with.

Kotetsu pointedly ignored who she was pointing at and decided to attempt to dissuade her. "You know that she could be there and she would whoop my ass."

"I love being spanked!"

Kotetsu and Ino turned around and stared at the hooker. Ino started to laugh. "Yo- You. You are going to be in for an interesting night." Ino managed to get herself under control before finally going back to trying to convince Kotetsu to get the marriage license.

He finally caved. "Okay, Ino. Okay. Plus I think Genma will kill me if I don't do this." He and his 'friend' marched off into the night to retrieve a forged marriage license. Ino turned and attempted to skip up to where Genma and the priest were. She announced, "It's all taken care of!"

Ten minutes later Kotetsu came running by and flung the license at them. He yelled, "Got to get home!" He was being followed by his 'friend' who was running after him yelling, "Wait for me, baby! I can't run as fast as you can, you hot piece of ass!"

The trio who was standing at the priest's door stared at the two men running down the street.

"We have the license now! Let's get married!" Genma said enthusiastically.

**M~O~R~N~I~N~G**

"Oh, shit!" Ino shouted.

She was looking around at her surroundings. She was not in her room. She was not in her bed. She was not in bed _alone._ And the person who she is in bed with was looking at her in shock.

"Ino! What the hell?" Genma said.

"I don't know. Why the hell am I here? Don't tell me I came home with you!"

"You obviously did." Genma replied sarcastically.

Ino sat up and pulled her knees up. She rested her chin on her knees and sighed. "What happened last night?"

"You don't know?" Genma asked.

Ino shook her head no. "Damn. I figured that you would know. I have no fucking clue what happened." Genma replied.

"Shit." Ino muttered.

She got out of bed and immediately sat back down clutching her head. Her hands were soon glowing green and pressed her hands to her forehead. "Damn, fucking hangovers."

"Some help for me?" Genma asked.

Ino smirked before slapping him. "Ow, woman! What the hell was that for?" Genma asked as he clutched his now throbbing jaw.

"It seems like this is your fault for some reason." Ino replied.

"Hell, for all we know, this is your fault!" Genma replied.

Ino rolled her eyes and said, "Right now I don't care whose fault it was. We went to bed together and neither of us remember."

With that, she got out of bed and grabbed her clothes. She quickly threw the clothes on. Genma managed to sit up despite his splitting headache and throbbing jaw. He got up and quickly pulled on his clothes. He followed after Ino who had left his apartment. "Ino!" He called.

Ino was storming down the street intent on getting away from Genma. She ignored his calls and kept going on. Thankfully, Genma's apartment was located close to the village gates which was where she was headed. She just needed to get out of the village for a few hours. Sure she had gone to bed with guys before, and occasionally the senbon-wielding jonin, but she _always_ remembered it the next day. Not to mention, she felt that something was off between her and Genma. She couldn't put her finger on it but she knew that something was off. As she walked by the gate, she saw that Kotetsu and Izumo Kamizuki were on duty. She threw a hand up in greeting as she stormed past them.

"Hey, Ino!" Kotetsu called. "You and Genma have a lover's quarrel already?" He fell back in his chair laughing.

Ino stopped in her tracks. She turned to the desk and said, "Excuse me."

"Ino!" Genma yelled as he came up to where she was standing.

By this time both Kotetsu and Izumo were laughing. "This is priceless!" Izumo laughed.

"Kotetsu," Ino said menacingly, "I suggest you tell us what happened last night or I'll tell what happened with a certain chunin I know." She gave him a pointed look before shooting a glance at Izumo who looked slightly confused at that last statement.

Kotetsu glared at her but said, "You two got married last night."

Ino and Genma stood still. They almost were not breathing. Genma opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it when no words came out. "For once, they are both speechless." Neji Hyuga said as he and his bride, Hinata Hyuga, walked by.

Hinata stopped when she saw there faces. She walked over to Ino who had befriended the shy Hyuga heiress after she had almost died at the hands of Neji during the chunin exams. "Ino?" Hinata questioned softly.

"What do you mean we're married?!" Ino shrieked.

Hinata dropped her arm and stared at Ino and Genma in shock. By then Neji had walked over and was looking at the unexpected newlyweds with slight interest.

"Kotetsu, you better tell us what the hell happened last night or you will not be giving it, you will be taking it." Genma said as he reached for a kunai and pointed it at Kotetsu's crotch.

"You see. I was walking along the street and you guys were in front of a priest's house and you wanted to get married." Kotetsu made to continue but was quickly interrupted by Genma.

"What do you mean we wanted to get married?"

"You told me you wanted to get married but needed a marriage license. I was sent to get the license." Kotetsu now directed his gaze to Ino. "Ino told me to break into Lady Tsunade's office and get a marriage license and to forge her name if possible."

Hinata piped up, "That's good then. The name was forged so you are not married!"

Ino visibly relaxed and Genma let out a sigh of relief. However, Kotetsu cleared his throat and smirked. "The thing is, I didn't have to break in or forge the signature. Tsunade was there and signed the certificate."

The group of six became deadly silent. Then, Izumo started to laugh. However, the laughter didn't last long when Genma reached over the desk and grabbed Izumo by the neck and hauled him over it and started punching him. Neji stepped in and pulled Genma off of Izumo. "Don't take your drunken mistake out on him. If you are going to be taking it out on someone, at least choose the one who made no attempt to dissuade you."

"You're right, Hyuga." Genma said slowly. He turned to Kotetsu with a wicked gleam in his eye. "You better run, Hagane before I beat your ass."

Kotetsu eyed Genma and thought for a moment before leaping over the desk and taking off through the village with Genma hot on his heels. Neji and Hinata shot each other a look. Neji just shook his head while Hinata stifled a small giggle which caused her to be graced with a small smile from her husband. She turned to help Izumo up. After he was seated he said, "Sorry, Ino, for laughing."

She sighed as she walked over to him to heal his small injuries. He shook her off as she said, "It's okay. We did bring this on ourselves."

"Do you need us for anything, Ino?" Hinata asked.

Ino shook her head no. Hinata gave her friend a hug before she and Neji continued onto their destination. After they left, Ino turned from Izumo and said, "I need to go find Genma so we can go to the Hokage." As she walked away she was muttering, "So she can fix this damned mess!"

Izumo was also muttering, "What the hell was she teasing Ko-su about?"

**D~E~N~I~E~D**

Ino finally found Genma sitting on the steps of Hokage Tower. "Is Lady Tsunade here?" Ino asked as she planted her fists on her hips.

Genma shrugged. "I haven't been to look."

"Come on then." Ino said as she walked past him.

He quickly followed his new wife. Ino knocked on Tsunade's door and opened it when they heard an exasperated "Come in."

They walked in and saw the reason for the exasperation. There were piles of paper all around her and Shizune was prodding her to do the work. Finally, Tsunade said, "Fine" and grabbed a piece of paper and stamped it without looking at it. She managed to go through all the papers in less than two minutes. Shizune tsked but got one of the stacks of paper and started carrying them to the proper places. Tsunade finally looked up at who she had let into her office. "What do you two want?" She pulled out a sake bottle and took a swig from it as she asked the question.

"A divorce." They said at the same time.

"Ino?"

Ino turned around and saw it was Sakura Haruno who had asked the question. "Hey, Sakura. Hey, Kakashi-sensei." She turned back to Tsunade to hear here answer.

"Sorry. Can't do that." Tsunade said.

"Why not?" Ino asked, well, shrieked.

"You have to be married a year before divorces can be finalized." Tsunade replied.

"I have to be married to her for a year!" Genma said as he pointed a finger at Ino.

"Don't point your finger at me! It's not like I want to be married to you either!" Ino yelled.

"That is enough!" Tsunade interrupted. "First, Sakura is there anything you wanted?"

Sakura just held up a baby who had charcoal colored eyes. Tsunade grinned before holding her arms out. Sakura walked past the disgruntled couple to hand Tsunade the baby. "Sakura, can you hand me that book over there so I can look up the divorce laws?" Sakura nodded as she walked over to where Tsunade had motioned.

"You realize she is doing this to torture you." Kakashi told Genma in a low tone with a look to Tsunade.

Genma nodded and formed a fist to keep from saying something he knew would get him thrown from a window. "So what happened?" Kakashi asked.

"Got shit-faced. Got married. Don't remember it. Want a divorce." Genma tensely replied. He had been relatively fine before but now that he was in Tsunade's office waiting for the divorce, or what he hoped would be a divorce, he had become extremely tense and anxious.

Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort before walking over to where his family was gathered around the Hokage's desk. He looked in the book that was open to divorce proceedings. Thankfully, his ninja training kept him from laughing. The Shiranuis could get a divorce, that day if they wanted, since there was a good reason for the divorce.

"Just like I thought." Tsunade said. "You are going to have to wait a year for the divorce."

"Isn't there anything you can do to speed it up? You are the Hokage!" Genma said desperately.

"Changes to the law takes time and by the time the law was changed, it could very well be a year, or even longer." Tsunade calmly said as she gave the Hatake baby its bottle.

Both Ino and Genma turned to leave but were stopped by Tsunade. "You are forgetting something." She was holding up a piece of paper that had her signature on it along with two others. "Your marriage license. It seems you were in such a hurry to get home last night that you left it at the priest's house. He kindly delivered it this morning." Tsunade said with a smile. "He also told me that he hopes that your marriage is wonderful and blessed with many offspring."

Ino and Genma stared dumbfounded at their leader. They had not even thought about the possibility of children. "Children can be prevented. But as I have been informed by Hyota, you wanted children."

Ino sputtered, "You are going to listen to what a nutty bartender says! I don't even want children! I don't even want to be married! I was drunk and saying what I was feeling at the moment."

"I happen to trust Hyota. And he also said that it was Genma's idea that you two marry. It seems that Ino was very keen on the idea."

Kakashi and Sakura were staring in amusement at their two friends. Sakura could not resist saying something, "I know that these are supposed to occur before the wedding, but I will be glad to throw a bridal shower for you, Ino."

Ino just glared at her best friend. Tsunade shifted the baby to burp him and said, "That is a lovely offer, Sakura, but it will have to wait until these two get back from their mission."

"Mission?" Genma asked with some hope. As long as he could concentrate on something besides his wife, he was good.

"Mission. With him." Ino said with a look to Genma.

"Yes." She threw a scroll which was easily caught. "All the details are inside the scroll. You leave tomorrow. You have the discretion to decide what time."

With that, Ino and Genma left, closing the door behind them. All three people grinned. Sakura was the first one to start laughing. She knew it was wrong, but they had brought it on themselves. She finally got her giggles under control. "Did you really have to send them on a mission, Shishou?"

Tsunade nodded. "It really isn't much of a mission. Though they will complain about the simplicity. This is more for them to mend things between them and to work something out. They are going to need it. They have to tell Inoichi that they are married."

**B~I~G~N~E~W~S**

As Ino and Genma walked down the steps toward the village, Ino was hit by a sudden thought. "We have to tell our parents!"

"You mean we have to tell your parents." Genma replied.

"Why not your parents?" Ino asked.

Genma told Ino to follow him and he led her to the memorial stone. "Mom, Dad. I'm married." After he said that, he turned to leave.

"Your parents are dead?" Ino softly asked. Genma nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

He shrugged. "It's okay. Not many people know." He tried to leave again but Ino stopped him.

"Hold on for a moment."

She closed her eyes and bowed her head before the stone. She stood still as she prayed then she opened her eyes and touched the stone where the name of Genma's parents were. She then searched for Asuma's name and put her hand over his name. She did that for each ninja she knew. At Genma's questioning look she said, "I hardly come out here."

They finally turned away and headed towards the flower shop Ino's parents owned. The door was open and Inoichi was talking to his wife. "Mom, Dad. We have something to tell you." Ino said nervously.

Inoichi stood up straight and looked at his daughter. His gaze then turned to Genma who was doing everything he could to avoid the gaze of the slightly older man. Ino noticed her father preparing to do his mind transfer jutsu but tried to stop him by saying, "We're married."

Her mother let out a gasp of surprise and had to clutch at the counter to keep from falling over. Inoichi looked at his daughter and then her new husband before completing the mind transfer. Ino quickly rushed over to her father who was making Genma walk toward a bucket of water. He had made Genma stick his face down in the water to drown him. Ino managed to break the jutsu and Genma came up gasping for air.

"Daddy! You didn't have to try to kill him!"

Inoichi stalked around the counter and grabbed Genma by the neck and held him up. "What the hell did you do to my little girl?" Inoichi asked hatred clouding his voice.

"She did it to!" Genma managed to choke out.

Inoichi glanced at his daughter and said, "The older of the two of you should have acted more responsibly. You better be thankful that I am not taking away what you value most." As he said that, Inoichi glanced to Genma's crotch.

"Put him down, Inoichi." A soft voice said.

Inoichi listened to his wife but tightened his grip for a moment before letting go. Genma wanted to rub his neck from the pain but resisted. Inoichi turned to his daughter and said, "What is going on, Ino?"

Ino took a deep breath, "We were talking last night and decided that we would get married. You know that we have dated off and on for a while."

Ino's mother came around the counter and gave her daughter a hug. She said, "Ino, as long as you are happy, we will support your decision." She then turned to Inoichi and said, "You will support your daughters decision and not antagonize her or her husband! I do not want our daughter to not visit with us any because you are going to berate her and her husband! Now wish them well."

Inoichi was going to attempt to argue with his wife but stopped when he saw the look she was giving him. He turned to his daughter and said, "Good luck, baby girl." He turned to Genma and glared at him before nodding his head.

Ino sighed and said, "We also came to tell you that we are leaving tomorrow on a mission."

"How long will you be gone?" Her mother asked.

"I don't know. We came to tell you what we had done. We haven't looked at the mission scroll yet." Ino replied.

Inoichi and his wife gave their daughter a hug as she and Genma went to leave. Inoichi did not acknowledge Genma but his wife gave him a warm hug. They left the shop and went to the local park and sat on a bench. They opened the scroll and read it.

"A resort?" Ino said as she read the scroll.

"To catch a bunch of robbers. This will be a cake walk." Genma said.

**M~I~S~S~I~O~N**

It was five in the morning. Ino rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a loud oomph. "Damn Genma for making me get up this early." She grumbled.

She got dressed and grabbed her pack before heading out the door. She met Genma by the gates where he was talking to the two night guards. He received a teasing glance from them when Ino showed up. He flicked them off before meeting Ino who had walked by him and was standing framed in the gateway.

They traveled for two days before they reached the resort. They made their way to the hotel that was named on the scroll. As they walked in the door, they noticed that the décor was simple yet elegant and rich. It was not over the top and would have been understated if it had been of lesser quality. Ino sighed as they approached the desk where an old lady was sitting. She looked up and squinted at the couple as they neared her.

"Would you be the two that Lady Tsunade has sent to us?" She asked when they reached the desk.

"We are." Genma answered.

She handed him a key and told them to get comfortable in their room. "My husband and I would like to have you join us for dinner. We will explain everything there."

Ino led the way to their room and waited for Genma to open the door. She sighed in content when she saw the fluffy bed. She noticed that the bathroom was to her right. She peeked in and saw that it had a separate shower and tub. She went in to investigate and saw that part of the glass wall for the shower rested about six inches on the ledge of the tub so that whoever was in the shower could have a place to sit. The shower itself had multi-colored glass tile and was very spacious. There were also many places where water could spray from. She also noticed that the shower could be used for a miniature steam room. Ino then turned her attention to the tub which was big enough for two and had jets in it. There were candles around the tub for when someone wanted to relax in a romantic setting.

"You've got enough time to nap and shower before supper." Genma told Ino. "I'm going for a look around this place."

Ino nodded as she shoved Genma out of the bathroom and closed the door. She turned the water in the tub on and poured a generous helping of lightly scented bubble in. She stripped off her clothes which were filthy from two days of traveling and sank into the warm water which was now filled with bubbles. As she relaxed in the water, she thought about how her life had changed in just a few days. Four days ago, she had been single and wanting to live up her life. Now, she was married to the man fathers warned their daughters about and was on a mission with him. She slowly started to relax and turned the jets on for a couple of minutes and felt the tension being beaten out of her muscles. She turned them off when it felt like she was getting a beating. She began to relax more and more the longer she sat.

**E~X~P~L~O~R~A~T~I~O~N**

Genma was ready to get out of that hotel room. After he saw Ino examining the bathroom, unwelcome thoughts sprang up. Okay, to him they weren't so unwelcome, but if he were to act on those thoughts they would quickly be unwelcome. He waved to the old lady who had checked them in and went to look around.

It was just a normal resort town. There were a multitude of hotels, some of which had small gambling halls in back. There were also larger gambling halls which were not part of anything. There was also a large number of bars. Genma quickly found the seedier part of town. He noticed quite a few brothels and strip clubs. Many of the strip clubs also functioned as brothels. There were men on business walking down the street who were being called to from the prostitutes who were also walking down the street. Some were being led into hotels for an hour or two of pleasure. Genma ducked into a bar and ordered a drink. As he was sipping on his drink, a woman who had long red hair sat down beside him. She was wearing a top that was cut so low that you could almost see her areolas. The skirt she was wearing was barely covering her and there were slits up the sides.

She placed one hand on his leg and started to run it up and down his thigh. Genma looked down at the hand and then at her. He was tempted to take her, extremely tempted, but she held nothing on the blue-eyed blonde that was at the hotel. He also knew that Ino could be a wildcat in bed and anything that might jeopardize him getting a piece of that had to go. He reached down and lifted the woman's hand from him. He tried to sit on the bar but she grabbed hold and said, "What is a man like you doing around here?"

"Nothing." Genma replied as he put down the money for his drink.

"You aren't going to by Chiya a drink?" Chiya pouted.

"No. I've got to get back to my _wife_." Genma said with emphasis on the word wife as he stood up.

That did not stop Chiya. She also stood up and put her hand on Genma's chest and started to unzip his vest a little. She then ran her hand over the tight undershirt he was wearing. Genma caught her hand and roughly moved it before walking out leaving a slightly confused Chiya.

As he walked, he thought about why he truly had turned down the prostitute. It wouldn't take much effort to go back and give her some money so she could fuck his brains out. He needed a good fuck since it had been over three months since he had last gotten any. But then he thought about Ino and realized that this would be the one time should would play the marriage card. And if word got back to Inoichi… Genma gulped and hurried away. He would not risk that consequence.

He finally slowed his pace and started looking around to see if anything was out of the ordinary. He noticed nothing. He was going to drop into a few of the places but decided that that would be better to do when he had Ino with him. He finally headed back to the hotel. As he neared it he realized that the woman behind the counter might would have questions if he had left his wife for an extended period of time and returned with nothing. He ducked into a store and bought a bottle of sake and some condoms. He also bought some roses and hoped that they were Ino's favorites. He finally headed back to the hotel and when he walked in the door, the woman gave him an approving nod as he headed up the stairs.

When he walked he noticed that Ino was not in the bed even though he had been gone for over an hour. He then noticed a faint smell coming from the bathroom. He walked in and grinned. He took his senbon out of his mouth and walked over to the tub where Ino had fallen asleep. He gently shook her to try to wake her up. That did not work so he shook her a little harder. Ino reached up and grabbed his sleeve and attempted to pull him closer. She pulled with a bit more force than he thought one could have in their sleep and he tumbled in with a splash and a yelp of surprise.

Ino jerked awake when she felt a large something fall onto her. She let out a scream when she saw it was a person. She then hit the person when she realized who it was. "Genma, you idiot! What are you doing?"

Genma looked up at her. He had lost his head covering and his hair was dripping with water. He looked like a puppy that had unexpectedly fallen into a puddle of water. "You pulled me in when you were asleep."

"I was asleep?" Ino asked.

"Yes. I came back and didn't see you. I looked in the bathroom and you were asleep. I tried to wake you up and you pulled me in." Genma replied as he tried to get out of the tub.

"Sorry." Ino told him. "Can you hand me that towel?"

Genma grabbed the towel and threw it to her. She stood up and caught it before wrapping it around her. She stepped out of the tub and walked over to Genma. She placed her hand on his arm and said, "I'm sorry, Genma. I didn't mean to pull you in. I was just trying to get warm."

She then stood reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She turned to walk away but was grabbed by Genma. He pulled her close to himself and pressed his lips to her's. Ino gasped in surprise. That was not what she had been expecting Genma to do. Genma broke the kiss and smiled at Ino. Ino managed to smile back before she turned and left the bathroom.

She quickly pulled on some clothes before sitting on the bed. That short kiss had rattled her more than she had thought. "It's because he didn't take advantage." Ino muttered to herself.

She heard the shower start and tried to block the image of a naked Genma. In the shower. Wet. With sculpted abs. And arms that could support as she reached her peak. Ino shook her head to try to clear the thoughts. She lay back on the bed and was soon lost to another world. However, she was brought back to reality when she felt herself being shaken awake. She rolled over to see what was bothering her and saw Genma shaking her. "Time to get up and get dressed."

"Damn." Ino muttered as she got up. She grabbed a dress she had thought to pack and a pair of comfortable flats. She also grabbed her make-up and hairbrush. She went into the bathroom and barricaded herself in.

Genma patiently waited for her to come out. He amused himself by going through the things she had packed. He had to stifle the laughter that tried to escape when he saw that she had packed a ragged stuffed panda. It had to have been given to her when she was a little girl and she couldn't bear to part with it. He replaced everything as it was and then waited.

As they walked down to dinner thirty minutes later, Ino was grumbling about how she did not have enough time to get properly dressed. "I could have waited to wake you up." Genma pointed out. That got him a glare.

"We need to act like happy newlyweds." He reminded her as they approached the lobby.

Ino plastered on a fake smile. They approached the desk where a younger man was working. "Are you the Shiranuis?" He asked them.

Genma nodded yes. He put up a sign that had Back In Five Minutes written on it. He motioned for them to follow him. They were led to a backroom which was set up for dinner. There was an elderly couple in there. The man stood up to welcome Ino and Genma. They bowed to him before taking the seats that he had motioned to. "Please allow me to introduce myself." He said. "I am Arashi Katsutoshi. This is my wife Sachi. She gave me the impression that you had not been properly introduced.

Genma started to introduce himself and Ino but Arashi held up his hand for quiet. "We already know who you are Genma-san, and Ino-san. We also know that Lady Tsunade sent you."

"Arashi, why don't we eat first and then talk?" Sachi suggested to her husband.

He nodded in agreement and snapped his fingers. The meal proceeded as one delicious dish was replaced by another delicious dish. By the end of the meal, everyone was stuffed.

As soon as the last dish had been taken away, Arashi started explaining why they had hired ninja. "We are a town that relies on tourists to bring in money. However, about six months there was a sharp increase in the number of robberies that were occurring here. We did not think anything about it at first, but then we noticed a trend. The robberies had started on the other side of town and were making their way towards us. Then they stopped. They started up again last week. And we expect that we will be hit within a few days time. We would prefer if that did not happen."

"Is it money that they are stealing? And is it hotels or gambling halls that is being targeted?" Ino asked.

"Both. Especially the hotels that have gambling halls as part of it. We want to add a gambling hall but with all of the robberies, we decided to wait." Arashi replied.

"If you could get us a list of every place that has been robbed, that would help us out." Genma said.

"We will try to do that." Arashi replied. He looked at his wife who was trying not to fall asleep. "Well, I think that is all. If you have any questions, please let us know."

Genma and Ino stood up and bowed before leaving the dining area. They walked up to the room in silence as they were caught up in their own thoughts about what Arashi had just said. When they reached the room, Ino went to wash her face and put on her nightclothes. Genma took off his clothes, leaving him wearing just his boxers. He climbed into bed and adjusted his pillows. He pulled the covers up around himself and got comfortable. Ino soon came out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and t-shirt. She looked at Genma and said, "You could give the bed to me."

Genma cracked open an eye and said, "We can either share the bed or you can sleep on the floor."

Ino stuck her tongue out at him before climbing under the covers. She let out a sigh of contentment as she was enveloped in warmth and softness. Soon, they were both sound asleep and oblivious to what was going on outside.

The next morning when they went downstairs for breakfast they were met by Sachi who shoved a news article into Genma's face. He read the article which was about a robbery that had occurred at the hotel across from the one where they were staying. "My husband and I would like it if you could keep watch over the hotel at night. We want to make sure that nothing like that happens here."

Genma nodded his head. "We will start tonight."

Sachi thanked him before as she went back to her post. Genma and Ino continued on to the dining room for breakfast. They kept their talk light and about how they could not wait to visit some of the gambling halls. They stood up from their finished meal and walked out of the hotel. Genma reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic device. "Put this somewhere. It will be able to record any conversations you have. It will also be able to pick up conversations around you."

Ino nodded before sticking it in her obi where she had also hidden a kunai and a couple of shurikens. She then held out her palm. Genma looked at before asking "What?"

"If we are going to be visiting gambling halls, I need money."

"We will stick together and I will give you the money as needed." Genma replied.

Ino grabbed the front of his shirt. "Look here, give me some of the damn money." She released the shirt as he reached into his pack and pulled out a packet of money.

"That should be enough for you." Genma replied. "Remember, don't spend it all. We have enough to get through the mission if this money is lost."

"What if I win some money?" Ino asked.

"Replace the money you spent and keep the rest." Genma replied as he threw his hands up in the air.

"What happens if we get separated?" Ino asked.

"You will try to find me." Genma replied. At Ino's glare, he quickly said, "Kidding." He reached back into his pocket and pulled out another device. "Take this. It's a two-way radio. If anything happens, just talk."

Ino put on the radio, which appeared to be a choker, and asked, "Are we listening for anything in particular."

Genma shook his head no. "Since we don't know anything, just try to pick up some clues."

Ino nodded before heading down the street. She led them into one of the smaller gambling halls. They were met by a middle-aged man who appeared to be slightly nervous. "Yes?"

They ignored the man who met them. They looked around a barrier that separated the entrance from the games. There was no one there. "How many people visit here?" Genma asked.

The man gave them a sharp look. "That is none of your business."

"Watch me." Ino whispered to Genma. She quickly performed her jutsu to explore the man's mind. The man's eyes glazed over for a moment as Ino entered his mind. After a moment his eyes cleared up and Ino was back in her body.

"I don't believe that I want to stay here." Ino told Genma. "There are not enough people here to play a good game."

Genma looked down at Ino who was looking up at him as she batted her eyelashes. They turned away from the owner of the gambling hall to go someplace else. "Please. Don't leave. I don't receive much business. And what little money I have was stolen from me."

Ino gasped in fear. "Genma-kun, please do not make me stay here. I would hate for a robbery to occur while we were here!"

"Calm down, Ino-chan." Genma attempted to calm down his 'hysterical' wife. "We will leave."

"Please, wait!" The owner cried. "I doubt very much that another robbery will occur. You actually have more of a chance to be robbed at another place!"

"What do you mean?" Genma asked.

The man lowered his voice. "There have been many robberies in this town. Once they rob a place, they do not go back. Instead, they move on to another place."

"How many places have been robbed?" Genma asked.

"Most places here. In the papers, they say they occur during the night, but that is not entirely true. Some occur during the day right before a place opens."

Genma nodded and said, "Thank you. We will be sure to watch out for any potential robbers."

They visited different gambling halls trying to pick up clues. The only ones they picked up came from gossip and was mainly speculation. They were not able to talk to anymore owners which hindered their search. They got back to the hotel in time for the evening meal. After they ate, they headed back to their room to take a quick nap. They woke up around nine and dressed in their normal clothes. They went downstairs and saw that the front desk had been vacated for the night. "I'm going to take a look around the city. You stay here and keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Genma told Ino before heading out the door.

Ino just nodded her head and started looking around. She seals on the windows that were in public places to alert her if anyone came through there. As she was walking to the door to see if Genma was headed back, she tripped over her feet and almost fell into a chair that was placed up against the wall. She managed to catch herself before she fell. She got down on the floor and started examining the area. She tapped her knuckles against the spot and thought that it sounded slightly hollow. She then started to tap out in a wider circle to see if she could figure out how wide the area was.

Ino grinned when she finally came to a spot that sounded solid. After some more exploration, she finally figured out the dimensions of what had to be a door of some type. She then had a dilemma, how to open the door. She got on her belly and started to examine the area. She found a small knick in the floor that was not like the others. This one was much more precise and appeared to have been specially put there. She pulled out a metal nail file and slipped it into the crack. She gave a satisfied grin when she felt it hit a spot that widened the crack. She was able to get a couple of fingers in and lift up the area of floor. She looked around to see if Genma was coming but saw no one. Ino sighed and put the nail file near the crack before slipping into the black hole. She hit a small landing that was put in place so that the last person to come through could replace the flooring. She never knew that the nail file disappeared and she went into the darkness.

**D~R~E~A~D**

Genma left Ino to go look around the city. He did not discover much when he had looked around during the day, which had been a few days ago, but he was hoping to discover something that night. He noticed that the gates to the city had been such. He thought, _"At least that lets us know that the robbers are somewhat permanent." _He then decided to visit some of the bars in different parts of the town. As he visited each one, he hoped to hear someone having a conversation that could give him and Ino some sort of lead. He heard nothing. After a few hours of being out, he headed back to the hotel. Plus, he needed to check in with Ino.

When he got there, there was no sign of her. He checked every part of the building he could. He checked outside, the rooftop, and then searched again. _"Damn it! And I can't pick up her chakra!"_ That last thought sent a shock of panic through him. He had thought this would be easy. But then again, his Hokage did have a slight tendency to misread missions or not be totally forthcoming with all of the details. And if something happened to Ino, he could pretty much kiss his life good-bye. Inoichi would see to that.

He noticed that she had placed seals on the windows and none of them had been tampered with. As he leaned up against the front desk, he was letting his eyes roam around the room as he thought about what to do. The beauty of the moonlight streaming in through the window and casting its glow on the floor was pretty much lost on him until he noticed one area. There seemed to be a small, irregular shadow _in_ the floor, not _on_ the floor. He wrinkled his brow as he walked over. It looked like someone had slid something down into the crack but there was no sign of what it was.

Genma pulled his senbon out of his mouth and stuck an end into the crack. He felt the floor almost loosen beneath him and saw that the crack had gotten wider. He put his fingers down into the crack and lifted the section of flooring up. He grinned as he stuck the weapon back in his mouth. This had to be where his wife had gone. Though he was still worried, he still could not pick up her chakra signature. All of a sudden he stiffened. He immediately reached for a kunai and turned around. There was Sachi holding a knife above him. He managed to keep it from stabbing him. He grabbed her wrist so he could snatch the knife away from the old woman. However, he was shocked when she grabbed the knife with her other hand. Genma managed to hold onto both wrists but was in a precarious position. He was trying to keep himself from being stabbed, but also trying to keep himself from falling into the hole which he was at the edge of.

Genma pushed forward causing Sachi to fall backwards. She was able to keep from falling as she managed to do a flip and land nimbly on her feet. Genma stood up and prepared for her attack. She ran headlong towards him before darting to his right at the last possible second. Genma managed to block her attack but was not able to block her other attack. She had wire in her other hand and was able to wrap it around him. She then squeezed her fingers around one end of the wire. The wire glowed before suddenly tightening. Genma managed to not make a noise at the pain. He started to try to get out of the bind but it only made the wire tighten even more.

"You can't escape it, Genma-san." Sachi taunted. "Maybe your demise will be less painless than that of your wife." She let out a laugh before jumping down into the hole in the floor.

"Calm down." Genma told himself as the wire tightened again at his sudden movement. "At least Ino is still alive."

He tried to move his arm to get the knife that Sachi had left. However, the wire tightened again. It had now started to cut into his skin. He could feel wet spots on his skin and knew it had to be blood. He forced his body to relax and felt the wire loosen a little. He then tried to move again but the wire automatically tightened. He winced at the pain but forced his body to relax again. She had wrapped the wire around his body twice and there was a gap between the wires. He was trying to get his hand between that gap.

After lots of maneuvering and relaxing of his body and tightening of the wires, he finally managed to get a hand through the gap. By now, the wire had cut down into his skin and blood had started to seep into his clothes. He bit back a groan that rose up from the pain when he reached for the knife and the wire contracted tightly. He had finally grabbed the knife. He was able to turn it so that it could cut through the wire. He cut the wire and let out a sigh of relief when the wire loosened. But even then, he had to remove it because it had gotten so far down into his skin that it would not easily fall away. His arms had the worse damage though since they had no protection except for his shirt. At least his back and chest had been protected by his vest. But now the vest was almost cut in two from the wire.

Genma, who was still holding onto the knife, went through the hole to find Ino and Sachi.

------

Ino gasped in pain. After she had made her discover, she had started to explore the dark passage. She had come to a door that had easily opened. Her eyes widened at the sight she saw. It was room full of money. Shockingly, there was Arashi in the room bagging up the money. He turned and Ino gasped at the hatred she saw in his eyes. He dropped the bag he was holding and advanced on her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the room before shutting the door. He squeezed her arm and Ino's world became dark.

She came to when she heard voices. She tried to move but found she could not. Instead, what was holding her tightened. She slowly opened her eyes. There was Sachi and Arashi but they did not look like they had when they had seen them before. There was nothing about them that said 'old' except for their clothing and hair. Other than that, they could pass for a young shinobi. Ino gasped. They were shinobi! Or at least had been at some point in time. They were probably missing ninja and were using the hotel as a cover.

Arashi looked over at Ino and saw that she was awake. He said something to Sachi before walking over to Ino. Ino, the normally out going party girl who could anything on, was now trying to not shrink into her chair in fear. She did not like the look that was in Arashi's eyes. She could handle people who looked at her like he was currently looking at her, but she literally had her hands tied. She could not move. She could not even form a hand seal to do any kind of jutsu on him.

Ino saw Sachi step out the door and she realized something. He was going to rape her. She waited until he had gotten close to her before she kicked up and hit him in the crotch. He groaned in pain but kept walking towards her. "She took care of your husband. Hell, he's probably in two pieces now. What good is a corpse going to do when it comes to keeping a blonde like you satisfied?" He taunted.

Ino's eyes widened in shock. Genma could not be dead! To be taken out by Sachi was absurd. "You're lying." She told him. "Genma could not be taken out so easily."

"It was probably painful for him to." Arashi told her as he looked down at her. He pulled out a knife and ran a finger over the blade. "Though not as painful as what you are going to experience."

He placed the blade against Ino's cheek and drew it downwards. Blood immediately came to the surface. He chuckled as he then drew it down her arms. He ran his hand over her exposed stomach and chuckled at her enraged snarl. "Feisty, aren't we?" He then drew the knife over her stomach. He then started to draw something using the knife. "Skin is beautiful. But blood is much better. The smell is intoxicating." He breathed in the smell of the blood that was soaking Ino's clothes and falling onto the floor. Ino stared horrified as he continued to use her body. He cut through her shirt and the bindings that held her breasts. He moved the wires over her cut stomach and Ino gasped in pain causing the wires to contract into the wounds.

Arashi stared at her breasts as he twirled the knife. He ran the blunt side of the blood around her breasts and then over the nipples. "Perfect." He said. He then turned the blade to the sharp side and started to cut the pattern he had outlined. He smiled in satisfaction as the blood ran down her chest and mixed with the blood coming from her abs. He finished with that and was about to get started cutting across her nipples when there was a loud thud outside the room they were in. Arashi looked up as the door opened and an enraged Genma stormed in.

Ino looked up and sagged in relief. She had lost so much blood that she knew that if Arashi had gotten much farther, she would not have been able to fight him off. Genma was taking Arashi on without using any weapons. Arashi was meeting Genma punch for punch, kick for kick. Genma though was able to get a look Ino covered in blood and felt an animalistic rage flow through him. He quickly got the upper hand. He was able to break both of Arashi's arms. He then reached around and grabbed hold of his neck. He quickly snapped his neck and Arashi fell into a heap. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Genma immediately went to Ino and cut the wire with the knife he had used earlier to free himself. Ino sagged against him. He did not bother to ask questions. He just picked her up and ran from where they were. Ino did not notice Sachi was unconscious and would not be waking up until one of them saw fit. She did not notice how quickly they made it from underground to the hotel lobby.

Ino passed out as soon as Genma opened the doors to the outside. During his exploring the city the first day, he had discovered a small hospital. That was his destination for now. He barged up into the hospital and demanded to see someone. A nurse came around the desk and led Genma to the emergency area.

"How much blood has she lost?" The nurse asked as she directed two orderlies to take Ino and place her on a bed.

"I don't know." Genma answered. "A lot."

The nurse nodded before leaving to get a doctor. She returned with one in less than a minute.

"Major blood loss." Genma heard. "Needs blood. Also needs fluid. Put her in a room." He was only catching bits of what the doctor was saying. He was not paying that much attention. All he knew was that he was scared. He, Genma Shiranui, was scared shitless. It wasn't the fact that he was married to the person who was currently bleeding to death, it was the fact that he truly cared about the person who was bleeding to death. He knew that he did not love her, but he liked her. He liked her a lot. And he had gotten used to seeing her eyes light up in amusement, or darken in anger. He was used to seeing the sun reflecting off of her beautiful blonde hair. He was used to her smiles and her energy.

Genma grabbed her hand. It was starting to get cold. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Soon, two nurses were at Ino's side, poking needles into her and getting different types of drips set up. An orderly also came over and started washing the blood off so she could have her wounds stitched. He flinched when he saw. The bastard had carved designs into her skin! He felt the anger rising up in him but he tried to calm himself. That bastard was dead. He would not be back to harm Ino again.

A nurse had to pry Genma's hand out of Ino's. He didn't want to let go. "She's going to be alright." They tried to assure him. But from his perspective, it looked like she was going to die. He shoved past the nurse and leaned over his wife and whispered, "I'm here and I'm not leaving you." He kissed her lips quickly before he was pulled away by the nurses.

"You are going to have to step outside." One commanded him.

He looked down at her like she had lost her mind. However, she did not flinch or turn away. She stared up at him like he had lost his mind for not obeying her. "We will let you know when she is in her room or if there is any change."

Genma nodded slowly before turning and leaving. He stepped outside to clear his mind for a minute and saw a bird swooping through the resort town. He realized what it was and whistled. The bird flew to the sound and came to a rest. Genma took the note and read it quickly. "No shit the mission was going to be harder than originally thought. Great job again, Hokage-sama." The bird must have realized that Genma was being an ass because the bird pecked him on his hand. He told the bird to hold on before he ran into the hospital and asked for a blank scroll and ink and a quill. The admitting nurse looked at him like he was crazy but handed it to him anyway. Genma quickly wrote out a letter telling Tsunade everything that had happened. He mentioned that he still had not interrogated Sachi but would at his first opportunity. He also told what had happened to Ino and that she would be in the hospital for a few days. He also told her to tell Ino's parents what had happened to their daughter.

He then went back outside and attached the scroll to the bird. The bird took off back to Konoha and Genma went back into the hospital.

**W~A~I~T~I~N~G**

Genma was finally led to Ino's hospital room. He ignored what the nurse might have been telling him. He pulled up a chair to Ino's bedside and grabbed her hand. It was still cold. She was hooked up to several i.v.s, one which was giving her much needed blood. Genma looked at Ino. She was so pale. She was just a few shades darker than the sheets that she was laying on. Her blonde hair was spread out around her like a fan. Her dark eyelashes emphasized the paleness of her skin. Genma sighed as he settled in for the night, or rather day.

He was woken up several hours later by someone clutching his hand. He opened his eyes and looked over at Ino who was looking at him in concern. He let out a sigh of relief at the fact that she was awake. "Don't scare me like that." He told her.

"So sorry." Ino said, her voice weak. "Next time I'll try my best to not be caught by a raving lunatic."

Genma just nodded, not trusting his voice just yet. "Are both of them dead?" Genma shook his head no. "Have you interrogated Sachi?" Again, a no. "What have you been doing?" Ino whispered, though it could have very well been a shout.

"Sitting here." Genma said as he ran his thumb over Ino's hand.

"Thank you." She said as she drifted back to sleep.

Genma stared at her for a moment before he let go of her hand. He stood up and stretched. He had gotten hungry and needed to go get some food. He was about to leave the room when he heard tapping at the window. He turned and saw another of the birds from Konoha at the window. He opened it the window and took the note from the bird. The bird waited but Genma said, "Sorry no food." The bird then flew away in a huff.

He quickly opened the note and read Tsunade's quick note.

_Good job. Told Ino's parents. They are on their way. Probably others will be joining them. I need you to interrogate Sachi, though it might be best to wait for Inoichi-san. Take your time on getting back._

Genma sighed. He didn't know if he should be happy that Inoichi was coming or be in fear that he was coming.

---

Genma was leaned back in the chair asleep. He jerked awake and slammed the front legs of the chair down when he felt something touch his shoulder. He looked to see what it was and sighed in relief when he saw Shikamaru.

"What are you doing here?" Genma asked.

"Was on my way back from Suna. Dad sent a bird about this. Said I should drop in and make sure that everything was good."

"She's going to make it. She received her last transfusion last night." Genma said.

"When is she getting out of here?"

Genma shrugged. "Probably next day or two."

The door to the room opened and Temari walked in much to the anger of a nurse. Temari turned and glared at the woman who paled and decided to keep her mouth shut. "Genma-san, I'm sorry to see you again under such circumstances."

"You didn't have to be so formal with him." Shikamaru said.

"It is okay, Temari-dono."

"Chan will do." Temari said airily. "How is Ino-chan?"

"She'll make it." Genma replied. "By the way what are you two doing together?"

Temari actually blushed and Shikamaru said, "Temari was being troublesome and we kind of got married."

"Congrats, Shikamaru!" Genma said.

Ino stirred in her sleep but did not wake up. Genma turned to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, I need you to do something for me. I need you to go get someone who has to be interrogated. She's unconscious but hasn't eaten in three days. We need her alive."

"Troublesome. Couldn't even finish a mission properly." Shikamaru said with a smirk. "Where are we going?"

Genma gave him directions. Right after Shikamaru and Temari left, Ino opened one eye. "Are they gone?" She asked.

"How long have you been awake?"

"A while." Ino replied. "Long enough to hear the announcement. Help me sit up."

Genma adjusted the pillows behind Ino and helped her sit up. They had definitely become closer since Ino had been admitted. After she was sitting up, Genma turned to go sit back down but found he could not get away. Ino had grabbed the front of his shirt and was pulling on it. He looked at her and saw that she was smiling as she pulled him closer. He took the senbon from his mouth and met her lips. Ino sighed as they finally shared a kiss that was not quick and passing. Genma had just knelt on the bed to get closer to her when the door opened and Inoichi and his wife came in. Genma slightly paled under the withering glare he was receiving while Ino glared at her father who had interrupted her.

"I was going to ask how you were, but it is obvious you are well enough for certain activities." Inoichi said in greeting.

"Daddy. That is not any way to greet your injured daughter." Ino said.

Her mother came and gave her a hug. She asked, "What happened."

"Nothing major, Mom. Genma arrived before it could get any worse." Ino replied as her eyes moved to that of her husband.

Her mother came over to Genma and said, "Thank you." She pulled him into a hug before going back to her daughter.

Inoichi pulled Genma to the side. "Where is the person that we're interrogating?"

"Shikamaru and Temari have gone to get her."

"Is it the her who did this to my daughter?" Inoichi asked.

"No, Inoichi-san. It was a man who did this. He's dead." Genma finished with some satisfaction.

"Ino, we will be back as soon as we can." Inoichi told his daughter as he Genma left.

Genma led Inoichi to the hotel where Shikamaru and Temari were just coming up. "It's a damn treasury down there!" Temari said.

Genma said, "We'll be back in a minute." With that, he and Inoichi went down to the where he had found Ino. When they got to the room, Inoichi pulled out a scroll and sealed the dead body of Arashi in it. As they were leaving the room, Inoichi noticed the puddle of drying blood.

"Is that Ino's?" He asked in shock.

Genma nodded as he walked out. He was stopped a second later by a hand being clapped on his shoulder. He turned and saw Inoichi smiling at him. "Thank you for saving my daughter's life." He said.

"I don't let my teammates die." Genma said as he turned away. He started to walk before he said, "And I don't let my wife die either."

Inoichi looked at his son-in-law in slight shock. However, he followed him out of the underground hiding place. When they got into the lobby, Temari was waiting for them. There was no sign of Shikamaru or Sachi. Genma closed the door in the floor and listened as Temari said that Shikamaru had taken Sachi to a back office to be interrogated. She led them back there before saying that she would leave them to it. Genma stopped her and said, "It might be better if there was a woman here to."

Inoichi nodded in agreement. Genma did a quick hand seal and Sachi started to come around. When she saw Genma she tried to strike out at him. However, she was kept from making any progress by the seals placed on her and the chair that she was sitting in. She was not going anywhere.

Everyone was standing in the shadows as they asked there questions. "Are you the real Sachi?"

Genma shot a look in Inoichi's direction. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Sachi sneered.

"We can about this as easy as you want. And if you don't cooperate, we have methods of getting our information." Inoichi said.

Sachi said nothing. Inoichi did not have to do a hand seal before he was in her mind. Genma kept his body from being hurt as it slumped over. Five minutes later Inoichi said, "Kill her."

Genma turned to Inoichi and said, "I thought that we were supposed to keep her alive."

"Just until we got all the information we needed. We now have that."

Shikamaru nodded before his shadow stretched out and she was strangled. "What did you find out?" Temari asked.

"They were impersonating Sachi and Arashi. They were missing cloud ninja. They chose here because they heard that it was a wealthy place. They killed the original Sachi and Arashi and threw their bodies in the woods. They most likely do not exist anymore. They have been the ones robbing the places here. They were trying to do away with the competition. They were going to be staging a robbery for here within the next few days and going to pin it on you and Ino." Inoichi said with a nod at Genma. "They were also the ones responsible for the murders that took here last year when the robberies first started. Tobikuma and Yuriko were their real names. They were siblings. Tobikuma would first carve up the bodies of his victims before he would rape them. They would be so weak from blood loss that they could not fight him off. After he raped them, he would then kill them. He did this to both men and women." Inoichi said with disgust. "Yuriko would then help dispose of the bodies. They later made sure the bodies were truly gone. There is no hope of recovery for them."

Genma was trying to keep the fury down that was building up. If he had been just a few minutes later… He tried to not think about that. Ino was alive. She was hurt, but she was alive. Genma turned and left the room. He had to get out of there. It wasn't like he hadn't heard of people doing that before, it had just never hit that close to home before. He was becoming more and more thankful that he had arrived when he had.

When he left the office, there was a group of people standing around the desk. He groaned when he realized that they were guests and workers. One of the maids stepped up and said, "We were wondering where Arashi-sama and Sachi-sama are. They have not been seen for several days. And these people would like to check in. We have been taking turns checking people out, but we need to know what is going on."

Genma sighed. "I'm sorry, but no one will be checking in. The hotel is closed for now. Please leave so I can speak to the workers." The guests slowly filed out. Genma spoke up again. "I'm sorry to tell you, but Arashi-san and Sachi-san are dead."

Several people gasped in shock. One person asked, "When and how?"

"I can't tell you everything. All you need to know is that the people who were here recently were impersonators who had killed the actual Arashi-san and Sachi-san. The impersonators are also dead. I need two or three of you to stay on to check the remaining guests out and to provide meals and clean. I will let you decide who is best for the job." Genma turned from the group after saying that. He had other places he needed to be.

**H~O~M~E**

Ino and Genma arrived back in the leaf village a little over a week after they had left. "Do you want me to take you to your apartment or do you want to go drop off the report with me?" Genma asked Ino.

Ino looked over at him and said, "I'm going with you."

They went to Tsunade's office where the door was wide open. All the windows in the office were open and Tsunade had a box fan blowing on her. Shizune was sitting on the floor looking over a scroll and had a small fan pointed at her. Tsunade was not even pretending to do work. Instead, she was taking an occasional pull from a bottle of sake. "It is to fucking hot to work today." She was complaining to Shizune. She looked up and saw Ino and Genma in the doorway. "Back already?"

"Here's the report." Genma told her as he handed her a scroll.

Tsunade opened it and read over everything. "Everything is in order. How are you feeling, Ino?"

"I'm doing much better now, Tsunade-sama." Ino replied.

Tsunade nodded her head. "Come by and see me or Sakura if you start experiencing any problems." Ino nodded her head. Tsunade then asked, "Are you two planning on staying married?"

Ino and Genma looked at each other. "We really did not have time to talk about that, Hokage-sama." Genma answered.

"Let me know." Tsunade said as she dismissed them.

As they were walking down the street Ino asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"What do you want to do?" Genma asked as an answer.

Ino shrugged. "I don't know."

"Let's give it a shot. We have to wait a year anyway. Might as well enjoy it." Genma said.

"Okay." Ino said. "But we still have to figure some things out. Where are we going to live? My place or yours? What about finances? What if I get pregnant?"

Genma held up a hand. "One thing at a time. My place is month by month. What about yours?"

"Six months." Ino replied. "I just signed on for the next six months."

"That takes of living arrangements. Your place then. Finances? Are the utilities included with your rent?" Ino shook her head no. "You pay the rent, I take utilities. We split food costs. We'll keep our finances separate in case we decide to go through with the divorce. We'll figure the other stuff out as we come to it."

Ino smiled. "Genma, I think we'll be okay. Marriage might not last, but we'll be okay. Now as it seems we are married and can get away with things…" Ino looked up at him with a sultry smile.

"Damn good thing we're close to your place." Genma said as he felt desire building up in him.

Ino laughed as she and Genma went home.

**E~P~I~L~O~G~U~E**

Ino sighed. It had been a long day. She had helped her mother out at the flower shop that day since her father was not due back from his mission until later that day. Along with working, she had gotten up early to bake a cake and prepare miscellaneous snack foods. She sighed as she sat down for a brief period of time. She was hoping that she would not fall asleep. She had to be at the birthday party that was being thrown that evening at one of the local parks. Next thing Ino heard was banging at her door. She sat up with a muttered "Shit" as she realized that she had fallen asleep. She went to the door to see Sakura holding her latest child, a five month old boy named ?. "Ino, you were supposed to be at the park thirty minutes ago to help decorate!"

Ino said, "Come in and sit down while I change! I fell asleep with meaning to." She had run to her bedroom as she was talking to Sakura. "Shit, shit! I can't find anything to wear!" However, five minutes later, Ino came running out of the bedroom dressed in an emerald green kimono that had golden yellow flowers embroidered on it. She was tying the matching golden yellow obi that went with it. She had left her down and it was falling down her back. She went to the kitchen and put the cake and other food she had made earlier that day in a box. She and Sakura left the apartment and went to the park.

When Ino arrived at the pavilion where the party was going to be held, she said, "You didn't have to go ahead and decorate!"

Sakura shrugged. "It was no big deal. I just delegated. You can thank Gai-sensei and Lee. They wanted to know of a new training exercise. Kakashi told them decorating for this party which is who I had originally delegated this to." Sakura said with smile. "But you should have seen Gai-sensei and Lee. This was done in two minutes. I think Lee is now doing one of his weird punishments since he lost."

Ino chuckled as she set the food out. There was already a good deal of food. "So, how many people are coming?" Sakura asked.

"At this point, I have no idea. I think just about every ninja in the village at the rate the guest list grew. Plus, even if they weren't invited, they were going to show up. Free food and drink. Sure to draw a crowd." Ino said.

Sakura laughed. "That's true! You just kind of have to go with the flow."

Soon people started arriving. They were getting into the food and mainly getting into the drink. People were laughing and having a good time. Ino was enjoying being with the people that she had grown up with. The Konoha twelve, minus Sasuke, was there along with their families. Some had married each other, such as Neji and Hinata, TenTen and Lee, while others had branched out a little like Sakura with marrying Kakashi or Shikamaru who had married Temari.

Ino was surprised to see the Kazekage arrive. She had told Shikamaru to let him and Kankuro know that they were invited. Kankuro was still single as he preferred playing the field, or as insiders called it making a certain Inuzuka howl. Gaara had married his apprentice Matsuri and they had a small family. People had often wondered why Gaara had chosen her and he would say, "She was there for me and not afraid."

"They're coming!" Someone told Ino who signaled the d.j. A light was focused on one end of the pavilion where someone appeared. The crowd broke out into "Happy Birthday" which was rather interesting.

"What do you say?" Genma said. He was holding his daughter who had not let go of him since he had returned from a month long mission the day before.

Four year old Akari just buried her face into her father's neck. Genma smiled as he made his way through the crowd. Kakashi clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Happy Birthday. How are things going?"

"Thanks man. Going good. Got back yesterday so I'm doing much better."

"Hey, Kakashi-san." Akari was no holding her head up since she was no longer in the spotlight.

"Hey, Akari-chan" Kakashi said with a smile.

"Is Kazuo-kun here?" Akari asked.

"Yeah, he's probably playing in some dirt somewhere." Kakashi said with a grin.

Genma set his daughter down on her feet. "Be careful to not get dirty." He warned.

"You realize that you are sounding like as you put 'an old fart who hasn't seen the light of a bar in years because he's being forced to stay at home.'" Kakashi teased as they walked through the crowd.

Genma shot a look at his old friend. "I don't remember saying that."

"You said it about a month after you and Ino moved in together. Though, I've probably seen the light of the bar more than you have." Kakashi teased.

Genma shrugged. "What can I say? Things are just better at home."

They finally made it to where their wives were. Ino smiled at Genma who wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, baby."

Kakashi said, "You could wait until you got home to do that."

Genma ignored his friend as he kissed Ino. A lot of howls and catcalls met the sight causing Ino to blush a little. "Time to serve the cake." She said as she walked away.

They stayed at the party for another two hours before they left. ? was skipping ahead of her parents as they walked home. Genma was carrying presents that people had given him. "Daddy," Akari asked.

"What is it?" Genma answered.

"Why are so much older than Mommy?"

"Because me and Mommy fell in love." Genma replied with a smile at Ino.

"Oh." Akari said as she continued to skip.

They finally made it home. Ino helped her daughter get her bath and changed into her night clothes. Akari climbed onto the couch beside Genma. She was dragging a storybook to be read to her. Genma read her the story she wanted to be read before giving her a kiss and hug goodnight. Akari ran into her room and climbed into her bed. Ino tucked the covers around her and kissed her daughter goodnight. After turning the light off and shutting the door, she went to where Genma was laid out on the couch, senbon back in his mouth.

Ino climbed on top of her husband and straddled his hips. Genma opened his eyes and saw Ino on top of him. He grinned at her as she leaned down and caught his lips in a kiss. He ran his hands over her hips and over thighs. His hands slipped into the folds of her kimono and ran his hands over her skin. Ino moaned as her body responded to his touch. Genma smirked as he observed his wife's reactions. One thing that had helped him decide to stick the marriage out had been the first time they had sex and her reactions to him and her actions in bed. The other thing was she had found out she was pregnant eight months into the marriage.

Genma's hands made it to the outside of Ino's kimono and found the tie for the obi. "Genma, we should probably go somewhere else." Ino said as she nodded her head towards the open door of their daughter's room.

Genma nodded and sat up. Ino had move so she would not topple over. He stood up and carried Ino bridal style to the bedroom. Once they were in there, he shut and locked the door in case Akari woke up in the middle of the night and needed to find her parents. They did not want to have to deal with any of those questions. The couple tumbled onto their bed as their arousal grew. Genma grinned at Ino as he undid the obi and threw the piece of fabric on the floor. He pulled the kimono apart and smiled appreciatively at his wife's figure. He undid the bindings that held her breasts in place and gave a sigh of contentment and lust as her breasts were freed. He took his time with each one, kneading and licking and sucking. The moans that Ino was making fueled his desire. He left her breasts and moved to her lips. He then moved down her neck and between her breasts, kissing and flicking his tongue against the sensitive skin. He kissed his way down her tummy and only stopped when he got to her panties.

"Genma." Ino moaned out in need.

"Hmm?" He said as he moved between her open legs.

"Please." She begged.

"Please, what?" He teased as he ran a finger over her underwear which had a small damp spot.

"Please, take me." Ino said.

"You mean you don't want me to do this?" He asked as he pulled her panties down and ran his finger over her wet slit.

"Okay." She panted. "You can do that."

"Anything else I can do?" He asked as he moved his mouth closer to her and blew on her clit.

Ino gasped and said, "You can do whatever you want for all I care!"

Genma smirked as he ran his tongue over her clit. He bit down softly which elicited a wonderful moan. He softly sucked as he ran a finger over her before dipping into her. He felt her clinch around him and he chuckled. "Ready are we?"

"Yes!" Ino cried as she ran his hands through his hair and lightly pulled.

He moved and met her lips as one of her legs wrapped around his waist. Ino moved her hands from his hair and moved out from under him. She helped him get out his shirt before running her hand over his muscled chest. He groaned at her touch and let out a pleasured gasp as she paid special attention to his nipples. Her hands found the waistband of his pants. Before unzipping them she ran her hand over the outside and grinned when she felt the bulge that was there. She undid his pants and he lifted his hips so that she could slide them down. They joined the clothing that was on the floor. His boxers were next. Ino thoughtful eyed his erection and started to wrap her hand around it. Genma caught her hand before she could do anything and said, "You might not want to do that."

Ino pouted a little before she pushed Genma onto his back. He looked at her in pleasant surprise as she straddled his hips for the second time that day. She took him into his hand and guided him to her entrance. Ino gasped in delight as he filled her; Genma groaned as he sank into her. Ino leaned over Genma as she rode him. He kept his hands on her hips and tried to hold himself together which was hard. The look of pleasure on Ino's face and the sight of her bouncing breasts almost did him in. He finally had to close his eyes. Ino saw him do that and grinned. She knew that he was trying to keep it together. But he wouldn't have to hold it much longer since she was reaching her peak. She moved one hand off of Genma's chest and moved down so she could stimulate herself to help her orgasm come quickly. It worked. She was soon clenching around Genma and crying out his name. He didn't hold back at that point. If she wanted another orgasm she would have to wait or give herself one in his mind. As she fell onto him, she let out a sigh of relief and contentment. She pulled herself off of him and lay down beside him. Genma groaned as he mustered the strength to roll over and throw an arm around her. Ino tried to calm her racing heart as she heard Genma start to snore. Ino finally felt herself drift off. She snuggled closer to her husband. Soon she was also asleep. The dawn would bring new joys and troubles for the young family, but at the moment, they were content and happy.


End file.
